As the demand for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV, also drone and UAS, hereinafter UAS) technology to be used in autonomous or semi-autonomous situations continues to rise, more efficient processes for operating UASs will be desired. Current prior art is largely lacking in true autonomous flight, requiring a UAV controller to continually communicate with an airspace controller such as an air traffic controller (ATC). This need for micro-managing greatly hinders the possibility of a fully autonomous UAS, especially in industrial scenarios such as package delivery and entertainment scenarios such as “eye-in-the-sky” multimedia recording (i.e. cameras at open-air sports stadiums). Further, even with the UAV controller continually on call to transmit and receive information from the airspace controller, it would still be possible for a delay in time to pass before either party knows the UAV has entering a restricted or prohibited operating area.
Instead, it would be beneficial for there to be a system where the UAV is able to determine, receive clearance, and alter its flight plan autonomously through autonomous or semi-autonomous communication with an airspace controller. The system should function as a “handshake system,” where back-and-forth communication between a UAV and an airspace controller occurs over multiple steps to ensure the correct flight path and operating areas are utilized while flights paths and operating areas that may be restricted or prohibited are avoided. Additionally, the airspace controller should be able to initiate additional communication to alter the autonomous UAS's flight plan in response to an operating area classification change, and the UAV should be able to respond accordingly.
It would further be desirable for the handshake system to be able to alter the possible use of the UAV as necessary to protect high value assets (“HVAs”), unknown restricted or prohibited operating areas, and newly-created restricted or prohibited operating areas.
Currently manned aircraft implement a number of communication and traffic collision avoidance system (“TCAS”) technologies, including RADAR, Mode 1-5, Mode A, Mode C, Mode S, ADS-B, and other transponder code formats. The autonomous handshake system should be able to integrate with at least one of these systems. In particular, the ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast) system is an automatic system designed to be constantly transmitting information, receiving information, and updating internal position. Integrating the use of the ADS-B network into the handshake system should allow for a nearly instantaneous communication network by minimizing the delay between mission plan changes being transmitted to a UAV and the UAV responding to those mission plan changes. Further, integration into at least one of these systems would allow the technology to be implemented on UASs more quickly.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a system and method that cures the defects of the prior art by allowing a UAV to determine its operating area and flight path through communication with an airspace controller. It would also be desirable for the communication to occur over a series of steps to ensure the correct flight paths and operating areas are utilized and avoiding the restricted or prohibited operating areas. It would further be desirable to provide a system and method for a UAV to operate in a preauthorized manner, while providing vehicle path and operating area authorization/avoidance, clearance, and traffic and obstacle awareness. Further, it would also be desirable to provide a system and method that integrates into current and future-implemented ATC communication networks and satellite networks.